Did an angel escort me to the wrong side of the subway? I only know that my small mistake won me five precious minutes to share the urgent second-advent news.

With no way to cross to the other side of the rails, I decided to take the subway with my friend several stops in his direction where I could then easily cross over and go the opposite way. My English-speaking Turkish friend, Teber, 10 years my elder, had been speaking of religion all day. In the crowded terminal, we had agreed to stop the religious talk for the day—it isn’t safe to speak publicly about such things.

The train was above ground for a moment and we looked at the distant hills. I asked, “Teber, is there ever snow on those hills?”

He replied, “Yes, but it is now melted.” Then he said, “You know, they say that within 25 years there will be no ice on the North Pole in summers.”

I whispered, “What was I telling you today about the end of the world? The world has always had problems, and we have always had solutions to those problems. But today, we have problems that no one has solutions for.”

Then Teber surprised me. He whispered back, “Where in the Bible can I read about the last days?”

I scrambled for a scrap of paper as we pulled into the dark underground station. As the doors opened, I dashed off Matt. 24 and 2 Tim. 3:1-6. I folded the tiny life-saving note and thrust it into his hand. I stepped out into the cold cave, the hydraulic doors closed, and with a blur of light, Teber sped away in the glass tube. I looked at the gaping blackness where the subway had just disappeared, then at the pen still in my hand. Tears welled in my eyes. I felt as if I had arrived at a cosmic intersection. All my life, I have prepared to ready men for the last day. All Teber’s life, God has silently been preparing him for that tiny scrap of destiny.

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